Introduction
IN THIS LESSON
Welcome — I’m so glad you’re here.
If you’ve found yourself turning to food for comfort, stress relief, or emotional escape, this course was designed with you in mind. Emotional eating is not a sign of weakness or lack of willpower — it’s a coping mechanism. And in DBT, we learn that coping strategies are there for a reason, even if they’re no longer working for us the way they once did.
In this course, you’ll learn practical tools from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that can help you:
Understand your emotional triggers
Pause before acting on an urge
Tolerate distress in healthier ways
Reduce shame and emotional overwhelm
Build a life where food isn’t your only source of comfort
You don’t need a diagnosis to benefit from DBT skills — just a willingness to be curious and open to trying something different. You’ll move through the course at your own pace, learning new concepts, practicing reflections, and applying real-world skills to your eating patterns and emotional habits.
There’s no perfection expected here. Only self-awareness, compassion, and the courage to take one small step at a time.
Let’s begin.
To start, click on each of the boxes below to complete the worksheets to learn a bit more about yourself, your current thoughts around eating and what you do to cope.
Remember to do this without judging yourself, you are doing the best you can at the moment.
Before we get started, let’s take a pause so that you can check in with yourself — gently and honestly.
Understanding Emotional Eating
Purpose: To begin recognizing patterns and triggers in a non-judgmental way, remember, no judgment here — just curiosity.
Complete the worksheet below to help you notice what’s happening before, during, and after emotional eating moments
One of the premises of DBT is that you are doing the best you can, with the skill that you currently have.
So, before we add new skills, let’s take a moment to acknowledge what you’ve already been doing to get through tough moments — even if those strategies aren’t perfect.
A core tenet of DBT is the concept of WISE mind.
What is your WISE mind?
Our WISE mind is the balance between our emotional mind and our reasonable mind. Our emotional mind is governed by our emotions- sometimes rational and at times irrational. Our reasonable mind is governed by our intellect. This can be good but if we don’t balance it with our emotional mind, we can end up being too rigid.
A story about WISE mind
My grandmother died leaving me a whole bunch of money (me being her favourite, and only grandchild). Since I was a young girl, I always wanted a pink Barbie car, the one that looks like a Porsche. I wanted to be able to drive on the highway with my long hair blowing in the wind. My emotional mind tells me that I now have the money to fulfil this desire.
The only thing is, I am now in my forties, live on a farm- which needs a 4x4 to get to the tar road in wet weather, and I have two boys. My reasonable mind says: How am I going to get home when it is raining? Where will my boys fit when I take them to school? And, where am I even going to on the highway at top speed?
I use my WISE mind to think about the situation and realise that although this was my teenage heart’s desire, it is not practical- and I should probably look at purchasing a 4x4 SUV instead (but.. maybe in pink).
Wise Mind isn’t about shutting down emotions or ignoring logic. It’s about listening to both — and choosing your path with balance and wisdom.
